


Damaged Goods Wrapped Up with Damaged Bones

by badlifechoices



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fluff, Jack probably too, i have no idea what this is tbh, set sometime during me2, shepard needs a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-07-10 20:20:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7004968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badlifechoices/pseuds/badlifechoices
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack thinks Shepard is too soft.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Damaged Goods Wrapped Up with Damaged Bones

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the prompt taken from http://promptsonpaper.tumblr.com/

_“Damaged goods wrapped up with damaged bones- a survival instinct book ready to be opened by prying hands without consent.”_

 

“Watch out, Shepard!”

The shout reaches her ears a split second too late. The shot hits her shoulder, burns right through her already weakened shields and throws her to the ground. A cry falls from her lips and she fights the instinct to drop her gun and curl into a ball around the pain exploding in her shoulder. Instead she switches hands, grabs the pistol with her left and lifts it up all in that moment it takes her to suck in a harsh breath. Her surroundings are drowning in a haze, fingers trembling with the adrenaline rushing through her veins. There’s a shotgun aimed at her head, the Asari holding it the very same she spared moments ago because she had claimed to be _innocent._ Falcon blinks, hesitating when she notices that her opposite is as well because if there is one thing that has been engraved in her bones it’s not to shoot at people who aren’t actually trying to kill her.

A second shot rings through the building, echoes from the walls of the hallway and she flinches. For a heartbeat she thinks that it’s over, that she hasn’t been paying attention, brain slowed by the sedative her armour is pouring into her blood. Then the Asari’s eyes widen, the shotgun falling from her hand and clattering to the ground moments before the alien too collapses. She shouldn’t be this shocked, shouldn’t be surprised by any of this but only when a hand appears in her field of vision, she understands what happened. Jack is standing over her, face screwed up in a grimace that is half fury and half… something else. She doesn’t dare to call it worry but the way her eyebrows are furrowed and her lips are pressed together it’s pretty damn close.

“Thanks, Jack.” She croaks out as she reaches for the offered hand and lets her team member pull her up to her feet. The other woman merely shrugs, letting go of her hand but not turning away.

She looks mad and Shepard thinks that she hasn’t seen the other like this since she broke up the fight between her and Miranda. But for some reason the other’s anger seems directed at her and not the dead assassin to her feet. “Whatever.” She finally spits and with a disgusted look at the dead alien, she adds: “You’re too soft Shepard. Knew something was wrong with her but you had to go all saint on her. See what that got you.”

Shepard isn’t even sure what to respond. Sure, her instinct had warned her about the Asari but she firmly believed in second chances and that everyone should be allowed to prove themselves. She’s usually more careful too and she curses herself for not reacting more quickly. Jack’s waiting for a reply, she realises when the other woman keeps looking at her with those brown eyes of her that seldom betray what is going on in her head. She opens her mouth, still without any idea what to say. She sure as hell won’t apologise, not for taking a chance on someone even if they did betray the trust she placed in them. She’s saved, another voice interrupting her before she could even utter a single word.

“Are you alright, Shepard?” Garrus is approaching them, rifle drawn and eyes flickering from her to the other end of the hallway as though he’s expecting some enemy to leap out of the non-existing cover.

The Commander sighs, on one hand glad that he appeared at seemingly the right moment on the other hand still embarrassed about being caught off guard like that. “Yeah I’m-“

 _Good._ She wanted to say but once more she’s interrupted as Jack spins around, mouth opened in a first-class snarl that would have any lesser person cowering in fear. “Where the fuck were you, I thought you ‘had her back’,” she quotes the last part, voice dripping with sarcasm and Shepard is now convinced that she’s never seen the other like that. She was moody for weeks after they destroyed the Cerberus facility on Pragia, sometimes completely ignoring Shepard when she tried to talk to her, sometimes throwing insults at her or simply staring at her wordlessly until she decided to give up. But this is a different kind of overreaction and Falcon wonders if it has something to do with Jack despising this entire planet. ‘Bad memories’, she just said before they left the shuttle and knowing better than to pry, Falcon let it be.

Garrus raises his hands in defeat, gaze searching the wound on Shepard’s shoulder and taking a step towards her. She shakes her head quickly, warding off any potential concern because she’s _fine_. “It’s nothing. I’ll go see Doctor Chakwas once we get back to the ship. It’s alright, Jack.” The only response she gets from the other woman is an irritated snort before the biotic turns to head down the hallway, leaving the other two to follow her. Shepard grits her teeth, clutching her weapon tighter and trying to ignore the pain flowing over her in waves. “I’m out of medi-gel,” she mutters to Garrus once Jack is out of earshot because as much as she wants to pretend it’s nothing, she has to be operating on full capacity to get this mission done.

“Let me.” Is the response she gets and before she knows it the pain has eased to a low throbbing. She thanks Garrus with a nod and they hurry to follow Jack before she can run head first into trouble again.

 

The mission went surprisingly well, they got in and out without problems, took out the mercenaries and retrieved the data Liara had been so worried about. Shepard kept her word and, despite the million other, more useful things she could be doing instead, headed to the medical bay to let the doctor mother her. Chakwas doesn’t lose a word about how she was injured, simply treats what is left of the wound and then orders her to get some rest. She’s grateful for how little the older woman seems to worry about her, though she still doesn’t understand how anyone could have such faith in her. “I know you won’t get yourself killed again. Not with the Collectors still out there.” Falcon only nods, thanking her and refusing the offer to take one of the beds in sickbay to get some shuteye.

It’s embarrassing how often she ends up sleeping there, nestled up next to the humming medical instruments. It’s not that she doesn’t appreciate having her own cabin, but it’s too large, not at all like the accommodations she’s used to from her time with the Alliance and it’s so far away from the rest of the crew. And then there’s the nightmares. She’s long used to images of Mindoir or Akuze returning to haunt her at night but after everything that happened with Sovereign and the Geth and finally her own death, she finds it hard to fall asleep. She’s glad that Chakwas keeps the sedatives she asks for out of the records for Cerberus, doesn’t want anyone else to know that the great Commander Shepard is too scared to go to sleep without the meds to keep her mind from wandering.

This time Shepard drags herself to the lift, sinking against the wall and closing her eyes for the tiny moment that it takes to get to the upper level. She half expects EDI to greet her once she steps through the door but the VI remains quiet. Quietly thanking whoever has told the computer to leave her in peace, she lingers for a moment to check that the space hamster still has food and water before slinking over to the large bed. Too large for just herself, she thinks but that really is nothing she should be complaining about. It’s ridiculous, she used to complain so much about standard issue beds back with the Alliance and now that she has a large bed of her own not to mention her own ‘loft’, she has no one to share it with. Not that it matters, the only thing that does matter is stopping the Collectors and then, well, she’ll cross that bridge when she gets to it.

She’s just about to peel herself out of her armour, when a buzzing sound announces that there’s someone at the door. A sigh falls from her lips. So a few hours without anyone needing anything from her really was too much to ask for.

“Come in.”

Of all people she expected to be seeking her out in her cabin, Jack surely wasn’t among them. The woman is lingering in the doorway, as though she’s not sure if she really wants to enter or if she just wants to leave. But there seems to be something on her mind, since after a moment of consideration, she does take a step into the room and lets the door swish shut behind her. Shepard hesitates, standing awkwardly next to her bed, her standard issue pyjamas laid out on the covers. “Jack. What can I do for you?” She finally asks, motioning for the other woman to take a seat wherever she wants to.

Jack doesn’t move, her eyes narrowing a little, almost as if Shepard’s words have offended her in some way. “That’s the thing, isn’t it? You’re always asking people what you can do for them. You always want to help people, no matter if they want your ‘help’ or not” she spits and there is a hint of the same anger on her features that Falcon saw earlier that day. There’s something else too, though, something she can’t quite decipher. “You know; I take back what I said some time ago. You’d make a crap pirate. All that compassion and sympathy. You wouldn’t make it one day.” She starts moving, shifting her weight from one foot to the other at first and then slowly approaching the Commander, one step for each word leaving her lips. “Honestly I’m surprised you survived so long. Sure, best shot in the galaxy I get that but you leave your back open for just anyone.”

Shepard’s too surprised to even find the mind to say anything in return. Jack takes another step towards her and suddenly there’s only a few inches left between them. Falcon never really noticed that the other woman is actually a few inches taller than her but she has to look up to Jack now. She opens her mouth to ask if Jack’s alright when the other cuts her off again. “You just want to be friends with everyone. But the ‘verse doesn’t work that way, Shepard, and if you don’t watch your back you’ll end up dead, _again._ ”

The realisation sinks in that Jack actually _is_ worried, no matter how much she tries to hide it behind her being angry and the bitter realism coating her words. She can’t keep her lips from curling into a tiny smile and now it’s her who takes the smallest of steps to bridge the distance between them. “That’s what I have you for, don’t I?”

Jack huffs out a breath of irritation. She tilts her head a bit, brown eyes still narrowed but Shepard can find no trace of that anger in them anymore. “You’re insufferable, Shepard,” she mutters and her voice is tight all of a sudden, so not befitting of her usually confident and cold demeanour. Falcon can sense the hesitation, the doubt and the same vulnerability that she spotted during some of their talks down in engineering. She knows that Jack has been hurt before, that she shut herself off because not caring and being lonely is better than being betrayed and used all over again. That truth makes her heart ache but she’s always thought it to be simply because she really does want to befriend Jack, maybe even help her find faith in something again. But maybe, maybe it really hurts her for a more selfish reason. Right now she thinks that she wants Jack to have faith in _her,_ to trust her and open herself up to her and only her. She wants to be everything Jack needs, wants to prove to her that there is someone who will never intentionally hurt or abandon her.

“It’s part of my charm,” she breathes and before her doubts can catch up with her, she reaches out a hand to brush against Jack’s cheek. When the other woman doesn’t recoil, she swallows every logical argument her mind is throwing at her and leans up to catch Jack’s lips with her own in a gentle kiss. She lingers just a tiny moment, about to pull back again, when suddenly there’s a hand in her neck keeping her in place. Jack pulls her closer and Shepard follows willingly, sneaking her arms around the other woman’s neck. Their mouths move against each other, lips and tongues meeting carefully and without haste. It’s a gentle kiss, less hungry and desperate than the ones Shepard remembers from her short fling with Kaidan and nothing at all what she expected from Jack.

She wants to be closer, wants to press her body to Jack’s but it’s impossible with the armour still in the way. When they break the kiss, they’re both breathing a bit heavier. Jack’s fingers card through her dark hair for a moment, tugging slightly before falling away from her neck as she takes a step back. Shepard hurries to untangle her arms from the other’s neck, fearing that she has made a mistake and will have to face the consequences now. She squares her shoulders, ready to explain that she doesn’t regret this, when a dark smile curls around Jack’s lips. “You’re too easy, Shepard. I could’ve snapped your neck or slit your throat just now before you even noticed something was wrong.”

A sigh falls from her lips, as the same tiny smile settles on Shepard’s lips. She knows now, thinks to know what really is colouring Jack’s voice. Instead of responding to the other’s words, she’s captivated by the way Jack’s tongue flicks out to taste her lips, chasing the reminder of their kiss. “I trust you, Jack.”

There is hesitation, the smile drops and a strange glimmer settles in the other’s eyes. Insecurity maybe, surprise or even the faintest hint of hope. Jack quickly pulls herself together, huffing out another breath that sounds almost like a laugh. “You must be desperate if you really pick me as the one you want to have your back. Guess it can’t be helped. You’re too soft, you need someone to take out your charity cases before they shoot you in the back.” And with that she saunters off, through the sliding door and to the lift before Shepard can even ask her to stay.

There’s a strange warmth bubbling up in her chest and Falcon finds herself staring at the closed door for another moment, before she turns to face her bed again. She’s exhausted and the prospect of crawling under the sheets is tempting enough to have her strip off the armour in record time. Maybe she’ll actually get a few hours of sleep without nightmares and even if she does find herself unable to sleep she can still sneak down to Engineering in the hopes of earning herself another goodnight kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't played Mass Effect in ages so I apologise if I got anything wrong also I hope Jack didn't drift too far into ooc-ness.


End file.
